Earlier today, the NBA officially announced the final list of candidates for major awards, of which the most surprising is the most improved player award, the last three candidates of the award are the Cavaliers' Garland, the Grizzlies' Morant and spurs' Murray, fans were surprised to find that in yesterday's playoff debut game, Poole, who slashed 30 points alongside the elder supergiant Chamberlain, did not even have a nomination.
You know, Poole was a player who played back and forth in the development league and the NBA last season, and this season, he has become an indispensable offensive thigh for the Warriors, and even at the end of the regular season, he has shown his super ability to become one of the team's most solid scoring points.
In addition to Green's grievances for Poole, the well-known American media Stein also believes that Poole should be selected, and believes that Morant should be more of a candidate for MVP than a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, because Poole is the one who has made more progress.
Let's rationally analyze whether Poole can squeeze out one of the three candidates, and it is more reasonable to enter the nomination.
First of all, Murray, who debuted on the All-Star stage with outstanding performances this season, before the start of the season, no one could have imagined that the Spurs with a mediocre lineup could be in the ranks of competing for a playoff spot, but it was under the influence of Murray's ability to evolve that the Spurs really played a season that made fans feel happy.
Look at his progress, in the 20-21 season, Murray averaged 15.7 points, 7.1 boards and 5.4 assists per game, and this season, his data sheet has evolved in all directions, averaging 21.1 points, 8.3 boards, 9.2 assists per game, and even two steals, his points are in the league's top 20, his average assists per game is fourth in the league, even rebounds have come to the league's 26th position, and he is also the league's steal king this season, such a performance he received the nomination for the fastest improvement award, he deserved it.
Looking at Morant, he averaged 27.4 points per game this season, 8.3 points higher than the previous season, 1.7 more than the previous season on the 5.7 board, and slightly regressed in the average of assists per game, 6.7 assists 0.7 fewer than the previous season.
Morant's stat sheet is indeed gorgeous, this performance coupled with the Grizzlies' record of ranking second in the West, he should indeed be eligible for the MVP nomination as the US media said, but fans know that this season's Grizzlies have performed better without Morant, and this is verified under a large enough sample, which also makes people's impression of Morant much lower, so he was not selected as a popular candidate for MVP.
But the evolution of Morant's offensive influence can't be ignored, and it's a shame to be able to skyrocket by 8.3 points under last year's 19.1-point stats, and even if Morant's contribution to the Grizzlies' victory is small, if you put him into a team that can't make it to the playoffs, he has a good chance of bringing the team into the playoffs.
Garland is also one of the players nominated, and this season, his average increase in statistics per game is not exaggerated compared to the above two players. Averaging 4.3 points per game, rebounding by 0.9 per game, assists per game by 2.5, his improvement is more from the influence on the court, this season he is the Cavaliers' well-deserved core of the outside line, he and Allen let the Cavaliers fans once saw the hope of James leaving and entering the playoffs again, although in the end it failed to do so, but his performance this season has exceeded the expectations of many people.
Let's finally take a look at Green and jordan Poole, who is upset by the US media. This season, he can average 18.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game, an average of 6.5 points per game compared to the previous season, an average of 2.1 assists per game than the previous season, an average of 1.6 rebounds per game, in addition to the data sheet, in the last season he was also a player who repeatedly ran in the development league and the NBA, but now he has become the third team in the West, the core figure of the Warriors with the blood of the champion, such progress is indeed incredible, and it is indeed more worthy of being included in this list.
In fact, I think Poole deserves to be nominated for the player who has improved the most, but not to squeeze out Morant as the US media says, after all, Morant's progress in panel data this season is obvious to everyone. Poole should be able to squeeze out Garland, because Garland's data improvement is less obvious. Another point is that after Allen's downfall, the Cavaliers were losing, and Garland failed to stand up and lead the team out of the predicament, failing to do what a good leader can do. So I think Poole should be nominated, but it's not Morant he can squeeze out, it's Garland, I don't know what you think